Multitemporal analysis of vegetation cover in the buffer zone of the Tambopata National Reserve, 2015-2020

Abstract

The objective of the research is to conduct a multi-temporal analysis of the vegetation cover in the buffer zone of the Tambopata National Reserve protected natural area for the period 2015-2020. One of the problems that have been identified is that since 2009, in the buffer zone, a series of mining camps have been installed, which are causing significant losses of forest areas and have caused the displacement of various species that are in a state of extension and vulnerable as the species Ateles chamek. For the analysis, the multispectral bands of Landsat 8 satellite images were used, and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and supervised classification. The results determined that for 2015, 8.18% (10 409.8 ha) of vegetation cover was recorded as degraded in the buffer zone and 22.48% (28 618.95 ha) for the year 2020. Regarding the quality of vegetation cover, it was identified that unhealthy vegetation increased by 1.92% and 2.20% in 2015 and 2020, respectively. It is concluded that the application of the supervised classification method allows us to estimate the area of degraded vegetation cover, obtaining within the study period a total of 18 209, 15 ha, being illegal mining one of the leading causes and threats for the illegal mining is one of the leading causes and threats to native communities and biodiversity in the Tambopata National Reserve Buffer Zone.